


Undervale

by DeathlyScar



Series: The Underground [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Eventual violence, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Nightmares, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-03 20:42:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5306123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathlyScar/pseuds/DeathlyScar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They say no one ever comes back from Mt. Ebott, but so few have actually climbed the mountain itself. So few have ventured deep enough in the forest. So few even dared step onto the path.</p>
<p>She knew what she was getting into when she followed the overgrowth to the base of the mountain. She knew what she was throwing away when she jumped down into the darkness.<br/>She didn't regret any of it.</p>
<p>But she didn't anticipate surviving the fall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Undervale

Brown eyes slowly peeled open, lids heavy, and vision blurry.  
A hole in the ceiling, high up, far too high to reach. Sunlight pouring in.

 

Sunlight...  
_Sunlight_?  
It was dark out just moments ago.

 

She pushed herself up, struggling only from weariness. She lay on a bed of bright, golden flowers... Marigolds? They looked like them... But she could have been wrong. She tucked her legs under herself and rose up, sighing and scratching at her aching head. She wasn't dead. But she was certainly sore all over.

 

She reached for her pocket-- of course she didn't take her phone with her... Frowning at herself for not having the foresight, she looked around in the darkness. She couldn't really see any vines, or branches, or roots sticking out, at least not low enough for her to reach... But a vague... arch? stood out on the far wall, and she made her way there.

It only took her a few steps down to see another grassy meadow down in the cavern, with sunlight spilling down from above, shining on a lone marigold.

 

As she walked closer... She noticed it had a face.  
Wait.  
_It had a face!?_

 

"Howdy!" the flower cheered, bright and sunny as the light flooding the floor. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!"

She stopped in her tracks, stunned. Her soft voice could only muster a single-word question, her eyes could only widen, unblinking, "Wh-- what?"  
She could have sworn that flower giggled at her.

 

"Hmm," the flower continued, "You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?"  
She stared, hardly able to process what she was looking at. A talking flower. A talking marigold-thing.  
A talking marigold was staring back, tilting its face and petals as it awaited an answer.  
"Yes?" it asked joyfully, and tilted itself the other way. "Nooo?" She could have sworn its eyebrows furrowed with a smirk as it drawled that second question.

 

"I--" she blinked, jaw agape and confusion turning her brain to mush.  
The longer she took to speak, the angrier that plant looked. "Are you _all there_ , human?"  
She threaded her fingers through her hair, staring into the dirt. "I did die," she thought, "And this is hell."  
"Under _ground_ , not Under _world_ ," giggled that flower, wiggling its petals. "You're very much alive! Though... _That was a pretty long fall, don't'cha think_?"

She had to force her laugh. "Y-yeah..." She felt her skin crawl and tingle and chills burrow down her spine. She didn't notice it before she spoke, herself... But something seemed off about that flower's voice as it asked that question.  
"Weelll," the flower drawled, "You're... Kinda stuck here!" That... was too joyful. "For a really. _Long_. _Time_. So, I ought'a show you how things work around here!"

 

Her flesh screamed and white pellets whirled out from the flower's petals and that alone was enough to send her staggering.  
"No!" she begged, burning wetness crawling on her arms, "M-m-muh-magic h- _hurts_!"  
It wasn't just her arms now as those pellets neared and that thing laughed with its contorted face. Her chest burned and it was like needles were jabbing into her skin, deep down into the tissue with reckless abandon and sending magma through her veins. She stumbled, she fell flat on the ground, the white magic surrounded her.

 

" _Magic hurts, does it_?" cackled that beast, that monster, "Then I guess that makes things _easy_ for me, _doesn't it, human_?" Its voice raised and deepened and growled out into the shadows and if not for the effect magic had on her body her blood would have frozen. "Because, down here?"

The pellets were so close now, so close that if she dared move an inch they would touch her.

"It's _kill_ \--" Closer. Thorns grew along the flower's stem. "--Or _be killed_."

 

A bubble of magic stopped those burning bullets, but defensive or no, the waves of the magic still tore at her nerves.  
She remembered looking up, muscles spasming and all, and watching a ball of fire rip that awful flower right out of the dirt. But the spell was so powerful that it hurt her, too, and every inch of her body screamed and raged, boiling lava flowing through her. It wasn't until the forcefield was dispelled that the pain stopped, only remnants on her skin, yet still she writhed.

"Sweet child," gasped a delicate, silver-bells voice, feet scuffling over to her. Tears blurred her vision, and all she could see was white, then the woman at her side dropped down with a thud, and she only saw blue. "Dear heart, am I too late?"  
A fluffy hand cupped underneath her head, and the other at her knees. Her tears dripped into the white fur, and she choked on her sobs.  
Slowly, she moved her hand, and rested it on the forearm of the monster kneeling at her side.

 

"I'm.. alive," she choked out to her with ragged breath, "Y-y-yuh-you're-- n-n-not-- not-- too--" _Not too late_. She coughed, and clenched her teeth. "Magic--- hurts."  
She heard the woman gasp again, "I'm so sorry, child, I'm so sorry-- _Oh_ are you sure you can move so soon?"  
But she persisted to try to lift herself, arms trembling and muscles tight and bones weak.  
The furry woman threaded her arm underneath her, around her ribcage, and she let her. She let her lift her, let her pull her legs up and over her other arm, and hold her to her soft chest. She let her carry her in her arms, and let herself rest against her panicked heartbeat.

 

She listened to the woman's gentle voice as she tried to talk to her, keep her awake. She knew the woman didn't know how to react to her condition.

The scenery changed in a blur as they moved, as she listened to this kind monster's voice. She couldn't catch most of what she said, but she did catch her name.

 

Toriel.

 

So she tried to tell Toriel her name in turn, slowly choking on the first syllable.

"Shh," cooed the woman, "Tell me when you are able."

So she obliged, listening to her speak, to her heartbeat. Her muscles stopped twitching, stopped screaming, her skin stopped burning long ago but now she just felt so tired...

 

So...  
So tired...

 

At first, the girl thought she was at home in her own room, staring up at a white ceiling in the dark. But the mattress was so much more comfortable, and the sheets so much warmer. She rolled onto her side, and determined, no, this was not her room at home.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

A dresser too short stood up against the wall with something square on it. There was no lamp by her bed, but instead one stood in the corner, next to that short little dresser. She pushed the blankets off of herself, looking down at herself. She'd been changed into a purple nightgown that felt too big for her tiny frame.

She swung her legs out of the bed and stumbled over to the corner, feeling for the switch on the lamp. She pulled down the beads, and the first thing she noticed was that the square on the dresser was her clothes, folded up and placed with the shirt on top of her pants, and her red flats right next to them. They smelled clean now, as opposed to smelling like earth and dirt.

_How sweet._

 

What was that woman's name, she thought as she crossed back to the bed. _Tara?_ She pulled the blankets back up to the pillow, and decided, _no, Tara can't be right._  
She peeled off the too-big nightshirt, and laid it down on top of the blankets. _Tori, maybe?_  
That sounded closer.

She moved over to the dresser, and pulled her striped shirt back on. Did she ever get to tell her her own name? She pondered as she adjusted the shirt, letting it fall and wrinkle around her ever-so-slight curves and bust.  
...  
It felt a little smaller.

Reaching for her jeans, she hoped they weren't smaller, too. They were skinny jeans, after all, and those were hard to pull up over her butt as-is. Shaking the fabric, she first examined it, then pushed her leg down into it, then the other. Here it was, the moment of truth-- yep, they were a little smaller.  
But she managed anyway, after a few moments of struggling to pull the pants up over her rear end, and another moment of struggling to get the button through its hole. Maybe they'd stretch out after some time wearing them.  
Either way, victory was hers.

 

She dropped those little red shoes to the floor and slipped her feet into them before turning the light back off and heading to the door. She pulled it open and stepped out into a quaint little hallway, narrow but not claustrophobic, with little end tables and potted plants and cute little light sconces decorating the walls. One end led to only two other doors, so she went the opposite way, walking through the small foyer and into the dining room. A long table with four seats stood close to a wall, while a large and comfortable looking chair sat in front of the fire place, so close to the bookshelf.

 

The fire blazed and burned, but the house was otherwise cold so the flames were welcome and pleasant, despite the magic. The girl pulled a chair out from under the table, and its legs scraped against the wooden floor.  
" _Oh!_ "  
She heard the woman call out from the kitchen, and as the girl sat down the woman stepped out into the dining room, donning an apron over a sleeveless dress.  
"You're awake!"

  
Oh, gosh. _A real and true monster_.

  
"Good morning." But the girl didn't mean for her voice to crack and shake as she greeted the goat-like woman. She cleared her throat, pushing down her unease and breathing deep. "You said you were... Tori?"  
"Toriel," corrected the goat gently as she untied her apron, "But Tori is fine!" But the girl didn't believe her, because she started wringing the apron between her hands as she walked to the table, each step fluid and graceful despite her clear discomfort. She pulled a chair out, and sat down with her. "Are you feeling better?"  
"Yes, much better. I'm sorry I scared you earlier." She brushed her hair out of her eyes, then held onto her elbows. "My body can't really.. handle powerful magic."

"You're alright, dear child," Toriel assured her, "Can you tell me more about your condition?"  
"It's not a very common one," the girl started, smiling sheepishly, "Strong magic hurts to be near, but once the spell is inactive, it's just sore, like the feeling after you fall."  
"I see," nodded the goat woman, "What magic... _doesn't_ hurt you?"  
The little human thought for a moment. She.. wasn't sure if anything this woman was capable of was weak enough not to hurt. "Weaker spells are just a tingle," she finally said, "That barrier spell you cast to protect me hurt, but I could've handled it alone." Toriel covered her hands over her mouth, and the girl shook her head hurriedly. "Don't worry! Using magic around me won't kill me! I just.. pass out, if it's too strong." But the woman still looked shocked.

 

"Still, I will refrain from using stronger magic." The woman lowered her eyes, furrowing her brow and fiddling with the apron on her lap. "So, humans still have magic, then?"  
"Not a lot of them," she replied, crossing her ankles, "But some do. My parents both do..." The sentence left her mouth before she realized what she was going to say. She averted her gaze from Toriel, and her hair fell down into her face. She did not want to think about them. "I can a little, but, it's.. hard to focus."  
The goat nodded again. "Let's talk about something else, then."  
She relaxed a little, and nodded in turn, looking back up at her. "I didn't get a chance to tell you my name, did I?" Toriel shook her head. "My name is Kera Italic."

 

The woman brightened. "Well, Kera, if you don't mind my asking.. How far did you get into your education?"  
A smirk twitched at the corner of Kera's lips. "I graduated from high school last week." Toriel's eyes widened, and the human giggled. "I know, I look like I'm twelve. I'm seventeen, and turn eighteen soon."  
The goat monster giggled, and the human could hear the nervousness in her laughter. "This, might come as a surprise to you, but.. I've always wanted to be a teacher."  
"If it helps any, I don't know much of anything down here..." offered the girl, "Or.. Or any _truths_ about monsters. There's nothing waiting for me on the surface, so I'd like to stay here."

 

The woman brightened immediately, and clasped her hands together and grinned. "Then I have so much to teach you, my child!"

**Author's Note:**

> OH MY GOD YOU GUYS. This is my first public fic, and holy shit I am so nervous about releasing this. I'm sorry everything is slow and clunky right now, and I'm sorry Chapter 1 is so short, but I promise it'll pick up and be a lot better in the next few chapters!
> 
> Either way, I'd like to thank all of my friends for encouraging me through this writing. I couldn't have done this without you all! And to you there reading this fic and these notes, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to do so! It really means a lot.


End file.
